Neil Armstrong to be honored at Reno Air Races

Seven well-known aviation pioneers, performers and pilots will honor the late astronaut Neil Armstrong when a trophy renamed after the moon walker is unveiled at the Reno Air Races on Sunday.

World War II triple ace Clarence “Bud” Anderson; test pilot Bob Hoover; Southwest Airlines founder Herb Kelleher; business aviation pioneer Clay Lacy; aviation record-setter Dick Rutan; and air show performers Sean Tucker and Patty Wagstaff are expected to participate, according to the Dayton-based National Aviation Hall of Fame.

“Many of the enshrinees there this Sunday have been there previously when Neil has joined them,” Ron Kaplan, enshrinement director of the National Aviation Hall of Fame, told the Dayton Daily News. “It’s a gathering of peers and friends appropriately to help rename this trophy in his honor.”

The award will be known as the Neil A. Armstrong Aviation Heritage Trophy, given to the best vintage aircraft restored to airworthy condition. The trophy has been called the Rolls-Royce Aviation Heritage Trophy until this year.

Armstrong, a Wapakoneta native, died Aug. 25 after complications from heart surgery, according to his family.

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